


When We're Ready

by SittingInACoffeeShop



Series: December Prompt List [3]
Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Adoption, Babies, Bill Denbrough Loves Mike Hanlon, Children, December Fanfic Challenge, Emotional Hurt, F/M, Family, Family Feels, Friends as Family, Friendship, Human Pennywise (IT), M/M, Married Ben Hanscom/Beverly Marsh, Married Bill Denbrough/Mike Hanlon, Married Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier, Mike Hanlon Loves Bill Denbrough, Mike Hanlon is a Good Friend, Mike Hanlon is an Amazing Baker and Cook, Minor Ben Hanscom/Beverly Marsh, Not Canon Compliant, Original Child Characters, Pennywise was a serial killer not a supernatural clown, Prompt Fic, Prompt Fill, Richie Tozier is a Good Friend, this is only mentioned though
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-09
Updated: 2020-12-09
Packaged: 2021-03-10 10:34:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27969140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SittingInACoffeeShop/pseuds/SittingInACoffeeShop
Summary: “What’s up, honeybee?” Mike asked.Bill hummed a bit before replying, “Just thinkin’. Are you okay?”“Me? Yeah. Why?”“You just seemed pretty lost in thought when I came in. Just wanted to make sure.”“I’m fine. Just...thinking, I guess.”“About?” Bill pressed.“Just, the kids...Richie, Eddie...you,” Mike answered honestly as he continued rolling the dough.“Yeah?” Bill asked, tipping his chin up on Mike’s back. “Me too.”“It’s a lot to think about,” Mike replied.Bill wasn’t sure which specific part Mike was talking about. Their nieces, Richie and Eddie, or...the other thing that had remained unspoken. He had a feeling it was the latter.December Prompt ListDay 3: Gingerbread House
Relationships: Ben Hanscom/Beverly Marsh, Bill Denbrough/Mike Hanlon, Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
Series: December Prompt List [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2041454
Comments: 6
Kudos: 23





	When We're Ready

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Han (aka hanthelibrarian) for giving me the idea of Mike calling Bill "honeybee"  
> It was too cute
> 
> **TWs in end notes**

Joyous giggling could be heard from the dining room as Mike baked away in the kitchen. He didn’t mind, though. He was, after all, the best baker of them all. Or so he’d been told and dubbed as such.

Mike smiled to himself as he pressed the rolling pin across the dark brown dough.

When Beverly and Ben had announced they were going out of town for some much needed husband-and-wife time, Mike and Bill made sure to add all the ingredients for an endless supply of cookie baking to the grocery list. The kids loved spreading the colorful icing and sprinkling candy atop the tasty treats, but the gingerbread men and houses were their absolute favorite to decorate.

Bill and Mike were more than happy to watch over Ben and Beverly’s kids while they were out of town. It was either them or Richie and Eddie, and for whatever reason, the two had backed out of doing it only a few days prior. When Mike asked Beverly what the deal was, she had just replied that “something came up with both their jobs.”

If that were the case, why were they _both_ at his house decorating cookies with the kids? They didn’t seem any busier with work than usual.

It was suspicious, but Mike let it slide without prying.

“Uncle Bill, can you hand me the green icing?” Mike heard the oldest of his nieces ask. “Thanks! And, uh, I think the cat took one of the icing knives...”

Aleesa was Beverly and Ben’s first born. She was a soft-spoken and well-mannered twelve-year-old, though it was clear that she had entered her rebellious, prepubescent years. While she was still a straight-A student and an avid basketball player, she had snuck out of the house a time or two in the past year to meet with friends. Both times ended in her being grounded.

And while she felt the need to point out how she was “too old” for certain things like “watching kiddie Christmas movies or decorating cookies”... she did it anyway.

Mike heard Richie impersonate Roz from _Monster’s Inc,_ causing to Emma giggle loudly.

Emma was seven-years-old, and she was the most easily influenced by her Uncle Richie. About a month ago, Ben had reported to them that she had already gotten in trouble seven times that school year for talking too much in class.

This persuaded Beverly to joke, “Richie you are going to _ruin_ my daughter.”

“Ah man, I think Rylee needs changed,” Mike heard Eddie groan. “Rich, would you mind? I’m trying to hold up my gingerbread wall so it doesn’t fall over.”

"But I’m eating a cookie.”

“Rich, you’ve had like ten cookies already!”

Rylee was the youngest at eight months old, and had quite possibly the chubbiest face in the history of babies. It made it almost impossible for Mike to not pinch her cheeks every time he saw her.

Bill walked into the kitchen, holding his hands out like he had just sterilized them for surgery...except they were covered in white icing. He tossed a plastic knife into the sink before washing his hands.

“Had to wrestle a frosting knife from Macho. I think she’s _really_ protesting this diet now,” Bill said.

Macho was their big, fluffy, chubby Ragdoll cat. They had decided to put her on a diet a couple weeks prior, which she wasn’t particularly fond of. They were fairly certain the cat was a bottomless pit.

Emma excitedly ran into the kitchen as Bill was drying his hands, “Hey, Uncle Mikey? Are the new batch of cookies ready yet?”

“Why? Does Uncle Richie keep eating them all?” Mike asked jokingly, purposefully loud enough for Richie to hear.

“No!” Richie shouted childishly from the bedroom where he was changing Rylee. “Emma and Aleesa are!”

“Are not!” Aleesa retorted from the dining room.

The timer on the oven dinged.

“Well, whaddya know. There they are,” Mike said to his niece.

Her smile grew wider and she made a move to open the oven, but Bill leaped into action and stopped her. He crouched down to her eye level and put his hands on her shoulders.

“Ah, ah, ah, nope. Are you allowed to use the oven at home?” he asked.

“No,” Emma shook her head in shame, pouting adorably.

“Then you can’t use it here, alright?” he said gently yet firmly. “Ovens get very, very hot. We don’t want you burning yourself.”

“Okay, Uncle Billy,” she said.

Bill smiled and ruffled her hair. She scampered back into the dining room.

Bill retrieved the cookies from the oven and placed them on the stove top.

Having the girls over always made Bill so happy. Which was a far cry from when Aleesa was born and he had been an anxiety-riddled basketcase. Mike was fairly certain that Bill was more nervous than Ben as the first-time father. Not that anyone could blame Bill for acting as such.

It was the Summer of 1988 that caused Bill’s anxiety...when a serial killer had wreaked havoc on the town of Derry, plucking children and teens off the streets one by one.

And his little brother Georgie had been one of them.

Losing Georgie was a lasting pain on Bill’s heart that never fully dissipated. It was devastating.

The thought of caring for another child sent a spike of fear through Bill’s heart. He had failed to protect his little brother, so what’s to say he wouldn’t fail his nieces or nephews...or his _own_ children?

Mike wondered when, or if, Bill would ever be ready to have kids. Mike knew _he_ was ready. He wanted to be a dad.

There _had_ been a time when Mike and Bill had been on the same page.

About a year ago to the very day, Eddie and Richie were three months away from having a baby of their own. They had done all the proper paperwork, met with the birth mother countless times, decorated a nursery, and bought a shit ton of baby clothes.

Seeing how excited Richie and Eddie were to be parents, it made both Bill and Mike ache for the same thing. So they sat down and talked it out. They shared all their fears, no matter how ridiculous or even dark they could be.

Finally, Bill had smiled with tears in his eyes and said, “Let’s do it.”

But then came the day that Richie and Eddie were scheduled to bring their baby home.

It was the fifth of December when they got the call that Rachel, the birth mother, had gone into labor. They rushed to the hospital, stopping by her room to wish her luck and provide as much strength as they could, before hanging out in the waiting room. After nine hours of waiting and pacing, a doctor came out to inform them of what they already knew: “It’s a girl!”

What proceeded was two days filled with excitement and happiness. They got to meet their daughter, hold her, talk to her, get to _know her._

Only for it to all come crashing down on the third day.

The day that Richie and Eddie were set to bring their baby home, they were informed that they would not be leaving with her at all. That they would never hold her again. That she wasn’t theirs after all.

The birth mother had changed her mind.

Richie and Eddie had known that such an outcome was a possibility, but they had seemed to forget all about it when the baby was ready to be welcomed into the world. It had completely slipped their minds when she was placed into their arms. They had been so wrapped up in their bliss that they didn’t see it coming. Not for a second.

And their heartbreak was horrible to witness.

It made Bill wonder whether it was all worth it. The same thing could happen to he and Mike.  
  


Mike was patient with his husband, but it was becoming increasingly difficult to handle. They weren’t getting any younger, after all.

Bill came over and wrapped his arms around Mike’s middle, pressing the side of his face into the soft flannel that covered his back. He smelled like sweet baking, fabric softener, and cologne. It smelled amazingly comforting.

It smelled like home.

“Eddie and Richie doing okay?” Mike asked gently.

“Yeah, they’re doing good. I think this is good for them,” Bill replied. “I thought Richie was getting choked up at one point, but...turns out he was just choking on a cookie.”

Mike laughed.

They fell into a comfortable silence, just listening to their friends and nieces laugh and giggle in the other room. Bill closed his eyes and breathed in Mike’s scent again before pressing a kiss to his back.

“What’s up, honeybee?” Mike asked.

Bill hummed a bit before replying, “Just thinkin’. Are _you_ okay?”

“Me? Yeah. Why?”

“You just seemed pretty lost in thought when I came in. Just wanted to make sure.”

“I’m fine. Just...thinking, I guess.”

“About?” Bill pressed.

“Just, the kids...Richie, Eddie...you,” Mike answered honestly as he continued rolling the dough.

“Yeah?” Bill asked, tipping his chin up on Mike’s back. “Me too.”

“It’s a lot to think about,” Mike replied.

Bill wasn’t sure which specific part Mike was talking about. Their nieces, Richie and Eddie, or...the other thing that had remained unspoken. He had a feeling it was the latter.

“Alright, I’m sure the cookies are cool enough now,” Mike said, slapping the excess flour from his hands. “And now they’re ready for their makeover.”

Bill smiled, but didn’t release his hold. He pressed the side of his face against his husband’s back again and kept his arms wrapped like a koala.

“Babe?” Mike questioned.

“Let’s do it,” Bill said, voice a bit muffled by the fabric of Mike’s shirt.

“What?”

“Let’s have a kid.”

Mike spun around, grabbing Bill’s hands and holding them to his chest.

“Seriously?”

Bill smiled up at him, eyes shining a bit with emotion, “Yeah. I’m-I’m ready.”

“You’re sure?” Mike squeezed his hands tighter.

“I’m positive.”

Mike pulled his husband in for a deep kiss, smiles never leaving their faces.

“Hey guys, do you have an air freshener for-” Richie barged into the kitchen, holding Rylee in one arm. “Oh...kinky.”

Bill gave him a look while Mike smiled good-naturedly. Richie caught the emotional gleam in their eyes, though, and he began backing out of the room, holding up an apologetic hand as he did so.

“Sorry. I’ll skedaddle, but uh...everything okay?”

“Everything’s more than okay, Rich,” Bill answered, a little choked up. “Thank you.”

Mike had a feeling there was more behind Bill’s gratitude than he knew.

Richie nodded and gave a small smile before completely backing out of the room, Rylee babbling something and making grabby hands in Bill and Mike’s direction.

“I’m sure they’d _love_ to hold you, sweetie, but only _after_ they’re done making out in the kitchen,” Richie said loud enough for his friends to hear.

Bill rolled his eyes but laughed while Mike called after him, “Thanks, man!”

“Always here for you, buddy!” Richie replied from the dining room.

Mike pulled Bill in for another kiss, and when they parted he gave him a serious look, “And you’re _absolutely_ sure about this?”

Bill cupped Mike’s face and rubbed his thumbs along his cheeks, “I asked Richie if they would let us take care of Aleesa, Emma, and Rylee instead. I wanted to be... I wanted to be really, really sure about...about all this. And what better way than to take care of three rambunctious little girls for four straight days?”

Mike smiled, “Aleesa is twelve.”

”Still little.”

Mike chuckled but became serious again as he asked, “And you decided that you’re sure? I mean, it’s only day two.”

Bill smiled before kissing Mike once more.

When they parted again, Bill said, “That’s all the time I needed to know.”

Mike gave an emotional chuckle that threatened tears, dropping his head into the crook of Bill’s neck as they embraced tightly.

They were going to do this. They were _actually_ going to do this.

Neither were sure when they would drop the news to the others, but they _were_ sure of one thing...

That their child was going to be so unconditionally loved, that they _were_ going to do this, and that they really, truly couldn’t wait.

**.**

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**Author's Note:**

> TW for mention of child death  
> TW for disrupted adoption


End file.
